Mulled Wine experts - come over here please!!

[Itsallgonetitsup]

I am having a few friends around for drinks one evening next week! I was going to do my usual punch but then realised I have quite a vast collection of red wine and thought maybe I could do some mulled wine!
I have absolutely no idea what goes into it although do seem to recall someone telling me you have to watch the temperature. Is it easy to do/make/keep going for the evening? Or is it a load of faff?

I need an idiots guide to mulled wine and how to make it! Can anyone point me in the right deirection of some simple but yum recipies and fill me on with tips and advice please.

Last year we went to someones house and they were serving it with a ladel out of their slow cooker!! Sadly they have moved and we are no longer intouch for me to ask them.

So please tell me everything I need to know about mulled wine!

Can I use any red wine? What glasses is it best served in! I also have a vast collection of Tesco Value wine glasses I was hoping to use as we no longer have complete matching sets of posh glasses!!

Thank you! Think I may try a couple of those over this weekend!! Hic!

My recipe:

1 bottle of red wine
1/3 to 1/2 a bottle of water
1 orange, sliced,
couple of cinnamon sticks, broken a bit
about 10 cloves
dark brown sugar to taste - start off with 1 tablespoon or so, taste once it's cooked for a while, and dissolved

Bung it all in a saucepan, heat through on a low heat, with a lid on - it should very gently simmer, but not boil. Ready after 20 minutes or so, but better the longer you can leave it.

Obviously increase quantities for more people :)

You can omit the water and add brandy, if you want a boozier one, but I tend to drink it quite fast, so that would be lethal for me!

You could do it in a slow cooker, but seems a bit unnecessary to me.

My FIL did a Jamie one last year, tasted nice enough, but far too sweet imo.
And no better than mine

I find that when it's hot/warm, it tastes more alcoholic, so the water doesn't affect the taste.

But it does mean I remain standing for longer

You can also try orange or grape juice instead of water, or do mulled cider with apple juice as the non-alcoholic bit.

As Smalltown says you can warm glasses to stop them breaking, or you can put a spoon in each before pouring the wine and that will work too.

I did a re-worked version of the Jamie Oliver one last week and it turned out great, basically I did the first bit which is boiling the spices in a little red wine to make a syrup, it also makes your kitchen smell fantastic Then I bunged the syrup and the red wine and the other stuff plus an orange decorated with cloves in a slow cooker which was great for getting and keeping it all to the right temperature without burning off the alcohol - served it straight out of the slow cooker too. easy peasy!

I served them in Christmas mugs